


The Police Saga: Jude Hopps & Nick Wilde

by PseudoFox



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Anthropomorphic, Awkwardness, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Drama, Falling In Love, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Furry, Interspecies, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Love, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Romance, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:00:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7208780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PseudoFox/pseuds/PseudoFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick Wilde and Jude Hopps have already had quite an adventure together, and they make a great team. Yet the mischievous fox wants to take his relationship with his fellow police officer to the next level, and Jude, himself faced with some conflicting feelings to sort through, doesn't know what to do. This is a romantic piece with some lewdness to it, being a Rule 63 project inspired by the wonderful Zootopia universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**[Chapter One]**

Jude Hopps tapped his paws against the table as he sat down. With various huge mammals bunching up beside him, the bunny cop reached for the cup of iced tea in front of him and anxiously took another sip. For the past week, Jude had duly tried to be as devoted and as helpful as possible to his new partner, someone that he cared a lot about, and the rabbit felt ready to get what was about to happen over with.

"I'm very proud to announce, then," Officer Wolford declared to the rest of the Zootopian Police Department, holding up a large present box in front of him, "the awarding of this very special token of our appreciation to Officer Nick Wilde." He gestured over to the happy fox standing in the middle of the room beside the wolf. "For happening to be in the wrong place at the wrong time due to sheer dumb luck, our _beloved_ Wilde—" the sarcasm almost oozed out of Wolford's voice, "took the kick down a flight of stairs that's brought us our first arrest, and first break, in this damn East Street Weasel Gang case."

Wilde held out both front paws as Wolford melodramatically flipped the box in the air. The fox glanced out at the crowd of officers sitting about in the conference room, everybody wearing a nice smile, and he nodded. Wolford placed the box in Wilde's grasp, the fox immediately ripping off the wrapping paper. He gasped in theatrical amazement as he held up a fancy-looking medal covered in blue and gold ribbons. After placing it over his neck, he held out the embossed text reading 'Kick Me'.

Torrents of giggles and chuckles erupted from the crowd of ZPD officers. Jude, however, merely shifted backward a bit more into his seat. He remained totally silent as he blankly stared forwards.

"I'd ask 'who put you up to this',” Wilde remarked, “but then I know that you all put each other up to this." That brought some more slapping of paws against tables and happy laughs. The fox dunked the wrapping trash into a wastebasket beside him. Taking a step back, he noticed that the phony medal rested right in the lower part of his chest, exactly where the weasel had hit him with full force.

"Since it's an anniversary day as well, the first day after your first week on the beat as an officer, we also got you this." Wolford produced a gigantic bottle of something yellow and sparkling, handing it over to the fox.

"Oh, well, since I should probably say a few words, I just want to convey my _deepest_ and _strongest_ gratitude," Nick began, clutching the bottle with mock emotion against his shoulder. He wiped a paw against his forehead and pretended to feel emotionally overcome. "I'd like to, well, thank the whole ZPD for this wine." He stopped to read the side of the bottle. "Correction! For this sparkling lemon cider drink, which does not break any anti-alcohol rules for this police station, I give my thanks—"

"Emphasis on the 'few' in 'few words', please, because we'd all like to get out of here soon," Wolford said, taking a seat and holding up his legs in the air.

"It's the perfect reward for my one week of work, not only because I'm sure that it's cheap as all hell," Nick continued, his eyes sliding all across the room, "but also because it shows just how well you all know me." He focused his attention on the rabbit across from him. "Yes, indeed, this _long_ and _hard_ , perfectly phallic object— with such a wide base and smooth length—" The entire room erupted in laughs and jeers as Nick slowly and dramatically stroked a paw up the side of the bottle, "has a _pointy tip_ that's ready to shoot out _thick foam_ the moment it gets rubbed too much." He sniffled with fake tears. "Oh, it's just what I've always wanted!"

A bunch of officers stood up and clapped, and the rest of the room soon followed. Several mammals went up to slap Nick on the shoulder and otherwise let out some silly remark. He chucked gaily along with them for a while. As the officers all mingled, though, and Nick set the bottle in a bin full of various papers beside him, he focused back on Jude. Awkwardly standing next to some empty chairs in the corner of the room, the rabbit tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone. Nick made his way over, the rabbit looking back impassively before suddenly becoming intently focused on his tea. He didn’t even look up as the fox leaned against the wall besides him.

"What's the matter?" Nick asked, brushing a paw idly against his phony medal.

"It's— it's nothing. I'm glad that you're happy," Jude replied in a flat monotone.

Nick glanced around as the crowd of mammals broke up, some of them coming over to shake paws with the fox before leaving, and he pushed his body over even closer to the little rabbit. "Carrots, please," he whispered, but the bunny didn't hear him. Jude tapped a paw against Nick's arm and left the room, looking as ready to go home as everyone else. Even so, Nick followed the bunny into the adjacent hallway.

The two of them met eye to eye once again as Jude abruptly stopped. The fox slipped both his paws against Jude's shoulders, massaging around in a little circle while Jude silently remained still. "Is it this?" Nick asked, taking off his phony medal and wrapping it up before slipping it into a side pocket, "I know it's stupid—"

"It's _everything_ , Nick," Jude replied, turning his face over so that he simply stared at the wall, “I know that after such a scare— after almost being so really, badly hurt— I get that you and the other guys want to laugh about it. Take the stress off. Better than just letting it simmer or screaming about it to some therapist or whatever else. _I'm_ not going to chuckle at you almost breaking your neck, and you know that. You know how I feel about you. But there's more too it than that. Your little... speech..."

"Hey, it's alright," the fox said, bringing his paws back down to rest them against the sides of the rabbit's neck.

"No, it's _not_ alright," Jude said, popping forward and twitching his nose, "and you constantly putting your paws on me is exactly what I mean!" The rabbit stamped a footpaw against the floor. "Every— _single_ — day now, you've laid it on more and more: dirty jokes, funny glances, sudden touches, and it's all ramping up to— well— to where I don't know what the hell is going on! Every day, you find a new button to push— it's like you're blowing up a balloon waiting for it to _pop_ , Nick!"

"Interesting choice of words, carrots," Nick commented, his sly smile returning to his face.

Jude reached up to grab his ears in frustration but stopped halfway, not wanting to give the smug fox the satisfaction. "Okay, Nick, I'm not going to deny that I like some flirting," he said.

"Just _some, eh?" Nick raised an eyebrow._

"Please, don't use my own words against me, alright? And don't use my own natural reactions at being touched against me, either!" Jude pleaded.

"We're having fun, aren't we? I don't understand why you're getting so worried. Not one single officer has said anything, have they?"

"They don't _have_ to say anything, Nick. It's what they think. It’s what looks they give," Jude said, his voice trailing off for a moment, "I find it kind of hard to explain, but it’s all a matter of _identity_ for me, okay?"

"That I don't get,” Nick remarked, “at all. You don't have any problem believing that you're born a certain way. Neither do I. You like one thing, I like that plus other things, and that's that. So, what's the hang-up about _identity_? Why care that much about how other mammals look at us, especially when we’ve proven everything that we’d ever need to prove taking down criminal scumbag after criminal scumbag?"

"Then lets say that who I am is tied up in an _image_ , okay? It's presenting yourself a certain way, something that I've done since when I was a little bunny. What's wrong with _that_?"

"Just live your life. So what about _image_?" asked Nick.

"I'm not like stereotypical gay guys, alright?" Jude paused, stammering for a moment as he tried to put his thoughts into exact words. He closed his eyes and wiggled his head for a moment. "I like baseball, motherhood, apple pie, Veteran’s Day, and outdoor grilling. Okay? I donate to charity. I pay my taxes. I salute the flag. I do all of these things."

"Good to know," Nick replied, trying to keep from laughing, " _but_ , this is a _crying example_ what I mean by the term ‘straight-gay'. I dropped that yesterday for a reason. Yeah, I know, it's a silly way to put things, but there's a point where other mammal's expectations run your own life. _You_ should be running it."

"I can’t just live like I'm some brain in a jar, floating about like one of your comic books, Nick!" Jude called out. The fox's carelessness only made him feel even more frustrated. "I don't want to have label after label stamped on me by other mammals, even if they come in the form of jeers, jokes, or whatever else. _You_ might be cool with that, but I'm really not. Being known around the station as 'one of the gay cops', or even just 'one of those', feels… well… _belittling_."

Nick shrugged. “Silly labels don’t mean that much when you're flirting, being flirted with, and having a good time, do they? When you feel happy?"

"You and I need to work together _professionally_. That means room to breathe, Nick,” Jude remarked, tapping a footpaw against the wall behind him, “and, besides, do I seem unhappy? I'm happy!"

"I'm afraid that you don't sound happy, carrots."

"Hey, I can feel happy about who I am and be _calm_ instead of _flamboyant_ about it. That's that. I don't need to act so smug that it's as if some big mammal tattooed 'I'm always happy' on my bare arms." Jude rolled his eyes.

"Actually, I've found that tattoos wind up more as a 'turn off' than a 'turn on' for most guys," Nick said, making a little chuckle, "glad that you ran that fantasy by me, though. That's creative. What about rope knots and rose petals on those arms, instead?"

Jude swung up a paw, coming a split-second away from hopping up and punching the fox right in the jaw. Yet he just wiggled his paw in the air instead. Jude felt such mixed emotions as the fox's smile abruptly showed a bit of teeth, Nick leaning his body closer despite Jude's bluster. Even simply being close to the predator's strong, powerful confidence seemed so nice.

"Alright, wait," Jude said, looking and sounding somewhat deflated, "it's fine for you to be you, and me to be me. You can brag to the ZPD guys about kissing a girl's lips while you've got a guy kissing your chest, and I'll talk about the weather. It's fine to flirt a little, even if I'm not ready for a relationship yet.”

“I see.”

“I just want us to be calm and quiet about it. Can we _please_ —" Jude slipped his body to the side so that one of his ears rubbed against Nick's chest. "Turn things around the next week? Make a change?"

"A change?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, carrots, I promise that things will change," Nick said, holding up two paws in the air before turning around. His motions caused Jude's ears to brush up against his side, something bringing tingles of delight through the bunny's senses. As the fox walked along the hallway, the rabbit scratched nervously against his neck. He knew that the following week would be an eventful one.

As it turned out, things changed all right. They changed for the worse. Through Jude's eyes, dramatically for the worse.

One week later, Jude found himself thankfully alone in the police station bathroom, at least for a few glorious minutes, and he closed his eyes before resting his body against the sink. The long day had almost reached its end. The bunny shifted his paws against the paper towels to his side and took a deep breath. Just like every time he had to himself that day so far, though, his mind kept playing tricks on him.

A flash of movement from the corner of the bathroom caused Jude to flip around. A mop somebody had left idly resting against the wall had just fallen over. The bunny tried to get back to calming his mind and relaxing, but the quick blur of the mop made him think back to one thing— a wonderfully long and fluffy thing.

Wilde's amazing tail had flowed all along Jude's front body just a minute earlier, the fox cop making a fake-clumsy stumble as they stepped out of the Evidence Room together. The rabbit only caught a glimpse of Nick face as they made their separate ways in the hallway, but the fox knew. He so knew. " _Come on,_ " Jude muttered to himself, "is he going do this all damn day?" The rabbit could still feel all of those little tingles going through his senses, reliving second after second of that hot fur's mini-massage.

Jude popped out of the bathroom and looked up and down the hallway a bit, seeing two wolves engrossed in conversation over a case. The bunny stepped over along beside them and gave a friendly wave. The fox was nowhere in sight at the moment, but that didn't change the hold that he'd built over Jude's mind, not after all of this tension. The rabbit knew that he needed some kind of drink to keep from getting a headache, even if he'd finish his shift pretty soon.

Ducking into a little break room, the rabbit stopped in front of the massive coffee machine right by the door. Gazing over at some of the relaxing sweet teas on the same table as the jars of creamer and packets of sugar, Jude seized one of the bottles and almost inhaled it. He rested a paw against the table and tried to make himself think about what he'd do after work.

Glancing idly to his right, Jude noticed Clawhauser standing at the opposite side of the room. The feline had engrossed himself in something unusual; he was oddly quiet. Jude's eyes narrowed, staring out at Clawhauser trying to fix a weirdly long and twisted electronic device in the feline's paws. Jude decided not to interrupt him with… whatever he was doing.

As much as the rabbit wanted to stop feeling so riled up, various little sensations still kept popping up in his mind. He couldn't help but think back to an hour beforehand, having run into Nick after the fox grabbed a big coffee from that same room. Nick had gazed right at the rabbit with a knowing smile, a grin bristling with those porcelain daggers that the predator called teeth, and head cocked to one side. Delicately tracing a paw up Jude's shoulder and slipping it slyly up against the rabbit's neck, each movement had flooded Jude's face with both blood and embarrassment. Even if it was only a matter of seconds, Jude had felt dominated so perfectly, and Nick clearly didn't just know it— he loved it.

"Oh, hey!" Clawhauser called out. The sheepish hail cut Jude's mental projector reel, the fantasy vanishing in a puff of fur. Clawhauser stepped closer and waved as Jude made an silly sign in the air back. "Really, it's the weirdest thing! You wanna take a lot at it too?" The rabbit hopped over and took the electronic device from Clawhauser's paws. For all that he'd seen on duty over the past several weeks, the small, blinking green lights at the edge of the tube-like device coupled with its jagged edges and flip-able switches baffled Jude.

"Got that long little gem from the East Street Weasels busted this morning. Whatever they are, those nasty guys are smuggling them around in those pred/prey bars to do _something_. We've little idea what. You know that they've all lawyered up, right?"

Jude heard somebody coming into the room from the hallway behind him. Yet he still stared blankly at the long thing as he turned it over and over in his paws. "Yeah, but no worries, we'll able to make them sweat."

"I heard the really smelly and really short weasel call it a 'trouser-snake release cylinder'," Clawhauser went on, "and I just—"

A nasty shock suddenly surged out of the device's tip right into Jude's grip. He let out a pained yelp as it flung into the air. The feline knelt down, a horrified expression coming over his face.

A flash of fur appeared above the rabbit's head. "Easy, there!" Nick remarked as he seized the device and whipped it over into a plastic bin. "You don't know where that thing's been!"

"Very funny," Jude replied as his right paw twitched uncontrollably. He felt it burning a little bit and instinctively held it in front of his face. "This actually hurts, you know!" A little groan slipped out of his mouth.

"It's alright," Nick murmured, lowering his voice as he slipped down his paws onto Jude's arm. Before the rabbit realized what was happening, the fox brought up Jude's paw to his mouth and popped the tip of it in. Jude still could scarcely breathe as the fox suckled the end of Jude's paw. When Nick slid the paw out before standing up straight, the rabbit blankly gazed upward as the knowing predator gave yet another tooth-heavy grin.

"Better, I guess," Jude mouthed. He turned over for a second to look at Clawhauser behind him. The feline blushed profusely while wiggling in place, clearly trying his best not to giggle in delight. As soon as the rabbit turned around, Nick had vanished. The rabbit blew a hot breath upon his still-stinging paw as he experienced such immense frustration— the sensation of the few tiny drops of Nick's saliva drying on his paw caused him to shiver.

"Ooooooooohh," Clawhauser let out as his blush grew seeing Jude's expression. The rabbit angrily tapped a footpaw against the floor for a moment, clutching the front of his his uniform.

"Please, not a word! Just— give me a moment!" Jude called out, waving an arm in the air over at Clawhauser.

"Jude, that was _the_ most—"

"I said: a moment!" The rabbit hopped out of the door and made his way down the hallway, determined to seek out Nick wherever the teasing predator had slipped to. He sped to the end of the hallway and spotted Nick’s swishing tail off in another hallway. Yet bouncing over there turned up nothing. Exasperated, Jude smacked a paw against his uniform. Stepping off in a different direction, he wondered how exactly the fox moved so fast. "Are you leading me somewhere, you _smug_ little—"

Another flash of tail caused the rabbit to shut his mouth and hop suddenly to the right. Hot on the trail, he passed by a confused moose as he went down yet another hallway. Finally coming into somewhere with a helpful dead end, the bunny spotted one of Nick's arms sticking out of a supply closet.

" _Fox!_ " Jude yelled, pointing out with a shaking paw. He eyed the predator as Nick pressed his paws against his hips in mock-surprise. The fox pushed open the closet door completely and looked back at Jude.

"You rang?" Nick slyly replied as the rabbit hopped over, Jude tapping a footpaw in raw irritation. The fox swished around his tail so that it brushed the air just a few delicate inches in front of Jude.

"Look, lets get one thing— at least, one thing— clear," Jude remarked, standing up as straight as he could, "I like you. I know that you like me. You're a great colleague and do great work. I even confessed that we can have a relationship sometime. But we're still on the job, Nick!" He reached up and nearly gripped his own ears in exasperation. "Don't you get it?"

Nick kept on that devious, knowing smile that he'd used on the rabbit all day. "Can I just interject, before I say anything, how wonderfully ironic it is that we're both talking in an open closet?"

"I— I— I know," Jude stammered, leaning back against the closet door, "for goodness' sake, I know what I am! Alright? Yeah, _yeah_ , I just choose to keep quiet about it, but that's not the same thing as being really repressed— come on! Okay, okay, maybe it's bad being the wingman with the guys and being silent about how I'm not eyeing who they're eyeing. Maybe it's bad going to all of the games with them and sputtering off embarrassing talk about the wrong sport. I'm just trying to be a little demure about it, okay?"

The fox clearly enjoyed the sweat sliding down Jude's cheeks. The rabbit's thoughts grew ever more murky and overcome by the second, but he still felt determined to find some way to get things across to the ever-teasing fox. Jude bounced about in place, face looking red, while Nick scratched his chin.

"Listen, you wanna be a weather-vane flipping predator sinking your paws on some prey's butt and feeling happy with whatever, fine! You be the pervert that's all out there! _Fine!_ " Jude twitched his tail uncontrollably as his voice rose.

"Glad we settled that, then." Nick's coy voice matched perfectly with how he gently rubbed a paw against his neck.

"Just— Nick, seriously— please!" Jude found himself panting a little as Nick made a gentle move that rubbed his tail slowly against the floor in front of him. "I'm not repressed, I'm not your puppet on a string to get toyed around, and I'm not— least of all now, ugh, when we've got less than an hour before our shifts end— wanting any more _funny business_!"

The rabbit stormed off away from the closet. The stew of raw emotions inside of him barely made sense. He tried his best to keep from breathing too loud, trying to force himself to calm down, and stepped around confusingly trying to recall the best way back to his own office. He froze in place, only a matter of feet away from the closet where the fox still stood, and gathered his thoughts. The rabbit had been led over to that particular hallway, and he barely recognized anything, the walls covered with weird posters featuring thunderstorms and racing water.

Bits of construction in the police station had brought new twists and turns day by day. Jude leaned up against the wall to try to remember a memo he'd seen, mentally tracing pathways. His body idly slipping over to the side, the rabbit accidentally pressed against a door left ajar. The rabbit fell into the room, letting out a soft noise, and picked himself up before dusting off his uniform.

Immediately getting his bearings, he looked about what seemed to be a small auxiliary meeting room. He thought about how everybody else had probably wound up clear on the whole other side of the station, diligently working on their assignments until the last moment that they got off work. Various tables, staplers, chairs, posters, and the like made up the cop's only companions in the little room.

"You know," Nick declared, appearing abruptly behind the rabbit, "it doesn't have to be _funny_." Jude flipped around to look at the fox before stepping backward, trying to get away. The rabbit found Nick standing over him, with Nick's paws rubbing against the fox's chest. The predator's expression seemed somehow far warmer, just looking so naturally inviting, while still conveying so much menace. "You deserve something more _serious_."

The fox had his fellow officer pinned down perfectly. Nick said nothing else as he held up an arm and slammed shut the door behind them. Jude's heart pounded. The predator poised his body over the bunny, with Jude staring at his surprised expression reflected in Nick's badge. As the realization of exactly why Nick had brought them alone together hit him hard, Jude's paws shivered across his body, his nose and tail twitching.

"Hold on! At least, give me a minute," the rabbit pleaded, with his legs squirming and his breathing hard, "I'm— I'm just not ready!

"Well, it looks like somebody's had quite a long day," Nick remarked, moving even closer before slipping his wanting paws around Jude's crotch, "and holding a lot back lately, huh?"

The predator pressed the rabbit backward on the floor so much that Jude's body hit against a bulletin board behind him, Jude feeling the little pins and pieces of paper pressing up against his back. As badly as the rabbit wanted to resist, he panted as tingles of delight flowed all around his limbs. The teasing fox kept on massaging his wonderful paws around the rabbit's crotch, knowing exactly how ever more throbbing hard Jude grew even through the uniform. The fox knelt down and seemed to dominate the bunny so completely.

"Please, I just— it's not just that I'm not ready for a relationship. We were just assigned together, too, on this big case," Jude went on, beads of sweat popping up all over his overcome face, "please, I'm just so anxious about it all— I want to talk about this."

"All of those baseball games, grabbing up those extra beers, making such stereotypical guy talk about cars, and rest of it," Nick murmured, pressing his face gently against the rabbit's neckline and letting his teeth poke against Jude's fur, "it's all alright. No more repressing yourself. No more 'straight-gay' talk. No more dancing around. Trust me, carrots. Just let me help you help yourself."

Jude felt Nick slip the rabbit's belt open, massaging those wonderful paws into Jude's underwear. Shivering from the pleasure, the rabbit let himself pant as sweat began to pour down his cheeks. He let out a loud yelping noise as Nick took both his front paws and clutched them on Jude's own left paw, the both of them then directly massaging the erection poking out from Jude's briefs.

"Oh, it's just, _oh_ ," Jude moaned out, wiggling his head from side to side while the fox kissed all over his neckline. The contrast between that pair of predatory teeth and his sweaty fur pushed so many wonderful buttons. "I— I— really like you." The rabbit's voice sounded fainter by the moment. "Liked you so much, for so long— even just after we met, before you became a cop— but I'm not ready to do this. I'm just not—"

"Like I said," Nick slyly remarked, opening his mouth a bit more to teasingly poke his sharp teeth a tiny bit into Jude's neck, "helping you help yourself."

The fox's paws opened up the rabbit's pants even more, the belt halfway slipping off. Jude's ever growing erection got more and more exposed as the fox's talented paws moved on. The belt finally fell almost completely off. Nick cradled his paws around Jude's balls, also teasing around the tip of Jude's throbbing hard length. The rabbit pressed his face against Nick's chest as well, kissing up and down on the fox's well-sweaty uniform. All of the scents and noises drove him right past feeling needy into a place of pure, instinctual lust.

"Help... yourself... carrots..." Nick whispered out directly into the rabbit's ear, abruptly gripping Jude's paws and sliding them and down the rabbit's erection. The sensations seemed so wonderful, little firecrackers going off all inside of Jude's body. The rabbit frantically tapped a foot against the hard floor as the pleasure ramped up. Yet, when everything appeared so close to a powerful peak, Nick shifted his face to the left and pressed down his teeth onto Jude's fur. The fox's joined his play bite with a massaging of his paws against Jude's own grip. Both the rabbit's and the fox's paws poked and prodded over every inch of Jude's throbbing length.

Jude cried out mindlessly, his senses feeling totally overcome. The rabbit's whole body shivered, his footpaws scuffling upon the floor, as a long, deep whine flowed out of his mouth. Thick globs of Jude's own hot cream squirted out onto his own uniform.

The fox's teeth delicately pressed into Jude's fur a little bit more, Nick being ever the teaser. The scraping and prodding made Jude melt even more, so much pleasure rocketing through the bunny's body as he was so dominated. Yet it only took a few moments for Nick to simply slip his head to the side and gaze at his overwhelmed colleague.

Their sloppy kiss cast the size difference completely aside. The fox's lips pushed hard against the rabbit's own wanting lips, his tongue shoving in without restraint into Jude's mouth. The intimacy seemed completely perfect as Jude felt his senses crossing over into pure bliss. It seemed like being caught in this mental circle, moving on and on, with the rabbit's flesh feeling lighter than air in the dominating fox's embrace. Jude acutely sensed every drip after drip of his own cum pooling out onto his uniform's midriff.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the fox stood up and gently dropped the rabbit, letting Jude half-collapse flat upon the floor. Nick held out both paws in the air as if he was being frisked, showing off the gooey rabbit cum coating on his fur. The fox made what might have been his smuggest smile, looking like he'd never felt more confident in ages. Jude merely nodded, hardly able to think, as he looked down at his flaccid member. His eyes traced the trails of whiteness stretching down on his uniform.

"Well," Jude said, trying to stand back in place and fumbling for his belt, "how do we explain this to... to... well, to anyone..." He brushed idly against his own cum stains and let out a sigh. "Alright, you smug fox, I admit it." Watching a sight beyond words, with Nick eagerly lapping up Jude's cum that had dripped on the predator's paws, the rabbit just had to come out and say it. "I want a relationship." He closed his eyes. "I'm out. I'm your boyfriend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make a little note here that I've revised the first chapter to this since I first uploaded it. What was the original version (with some small differences here and there, but this is essentially what I originally had) for those interested can be viewed here: http://pastebin.com/JrXFNPKf


	2. Chapter 2

**[Chapter Two]**

"You're lucky you didn't make me get it in my eyes," Jude remarked as he banged his body against a desk. He brushed his paws around his belt and underwear, the stickiness on both his fur and his clothes feeling very awkward.

"Hey," Nick commented, "you may have cracked the door a little open, but _somebody_ had to pull you out of the closet completely. I think we both ought to be glad that it was me that did it."

The smarmy confidence in the fox's voice made Jude stop to glare at Nick. "You didn't have to do it in such a callous and unromantic way, for Pete's sake! It's not fair!" Nick's silence only made Jude more exasperated. "I swear, Nick, even if a little cum had just splashed on my nose, I would have _bit you_!"

"Is that right?" Nick coyly asked. He eagerly licked off the last drops of Jude's cum from his paws before leaning over the rabbit's head.

"I would have bit off every last button from that stupid uniform of yours," Jude said, pushing his underwear back down along his legs and letting his belt slide idly away from his body. The rabbit's reflection shone out on a button just below Nick's collar. Jude saw that his drying cum had oozed down spots of his fur and pieces of his clothes, this all looking disgusting to the rabbit. "I _mean_ it."

"Kinky idea! You should keep it in mind," Nick replied. The rabbit realized that sticking out his buckteeth and lowering his voice provided something of a 'turn-on' for the fox. Nick turned around and walked to a huge cabinet haphazardly stuffed with various file folders and other items. Standing right by the room's door, the fox shoved his paws into the mess.

Jude returned to petting around his ruined uniform, thinking about the ads shown over and over again for instant cleaning pens by Oxen-Clean. Yet the rabbit had no idea where to grab one, even with so many vending machines set up around the station. It added insult to injury that they only had a matter of minutes until both their shifts ended. Jude was in no state to interact with officer after officer.

"Nick," Jude began, leaning his head down and rubbing a paw against his ears, "just what the hell did you think we could—"

"Here we are!" Nick declared, putting a triumphant tone to his voice that matched his smirk. Jude stared straight ahead and saw the fox holding up a bunny-sized uniform and a large, ragged washcloth. "Just behind that one batch of paperwork on those weasels."

"You— _you—_ really," Jude stammered, shivering in place as he tried and failed to stand up straight, "you seriously have a 'spare' ready? You _planned_ this? _All_ of this?"

Nick wiggled the uniform in the air and opened up his mouth wide, showing off a bit of tongue in his big smirk. "I told you that I wanted to think about us as _serious_. And those kinds of romantic relationships involve planning as well as execution."

"And, honestly, you had to have planned to put the clothes in the right room too! You may have been riling me up all day, tailing me to office after office, but to to get us alone, to plan out the right size place, to just— and— okay, _fine then_!" Jude suddenly shoved his body against the wall behind him as he kicked off his pants. "You _smug_ little, _smart_ little fox!"

The rabbit flashed back to the last time he played tennis— lining up a perfect shot to slam the little ball onto the ground right under the nose of his opponent. He felt worse than a losing player. He had basically been the ball.

"Look, just let me help you get ready," Nick remarked before he licked the least ragged end of the washcloth. He brought it down against Jude's crotch, delicately cleaning up the rabbit's sticky fur. Jude's irritation faded quite a bit as the fox went silent while also dropping the smug smile.

The strokes around the rabbit's sensitive length and little balls once again shot ripples of pleasure throughout his sense. Jude's breathing grew steadily faster as the fox's big, strong arms slipped his shirt off next. Paws massaged up and down, making little circles upon the rabbit's body. As irritated as he still felt, Jude drank in such pleasure from every last moment of the caring attention.

"Easy, carrots," Nick remarked, pulling the new shirt down upon the rabbit. He helped Jude with the rest of the uniform. Yet he stopped as his eyes locked on Jude legs. While still pretty spent from before, the adorable bunny cop nursed a soft erection. "Your trigger may be cocked and loaded for another shot already, but we've got to both be careful now, at least for a little bit."

"Oh, _now_ the naughty predator understands the line between 'pleasure' and 'work'!" Jude exclaimed as he buckled his belt, his half-hard bulge downstairs making it even more complicated. The rabbit sighed as he watched the fox roll up the spoiled uniform and slip it into a large blue baggie.

"I've been more than a little antagonistic, I know," the fox said, rolling up the baggie and putting it under an arm, "but I should say in my defense that 'a bit controlling' and 'a bit perverted' are personality traits that are not _at all_ exclusive from 'knowing to cover your tracks'." The air quotes that Nick made appeared so goofy that the rabbit smirked for a moment.

"Alright, so while this _is_ still all _your_ fault, thanks anyway for the change of clothes," Jude remarked. He looked idly up at the ceiling as he began to think out loud, rubbing a paw against his chest in frustration. "Nick, something that you badly need to understand is that just a few seconds of holding me close to slip my shirt on, with that smug smirk all gone, feels more caring, more tender, and so much more meaningful than anything involving... your paw down my pants. Okay? Having a _serious_ relationship isn't going to work out unless you understand what the word means to me."

"As you wish," Nick replied, keeping his expression blank although radiating out an irritating over-confidence.

"Look, _ugh,_ " Jude murmured, popping his arms against his sides, "we've literally saved each other's lives. The past several days have been one hell of a weird way to get me to 'open up', but— damn it— I feel pretty 'opened up'. Can't we do something more stereotypical and dating-y, in a tender sort of way?" The fox's silence caused Jude to tap a paw against the wall in irritation. "Take me to a great theater to see a cool movie? Take me to a nice place with good drinks and happy music to chill at? Take me to some sweet friend's house to eat his down-home cooking? Any of that stuff ring a bell?" I promise I won't ask for roses and chocolates— I'm not _that_ old-fashioned."

"I've actually got a certain set of 'good drinks' at a certain 'nice place' in mind, if you want," Nick said, his eyes staying on the rabbit while he walked over to the door, "I promise. I can do 'tender'. Try me."

"I'm up for eating and drinking somewhere that's fancy," Jude said, letting himself smile, "that's a great idea."

"Sure, we'll meet up off duty, no problem."

"So, we're now about to split up to go to our respective offices, taking care of some last minute things? We'll both have a quick talk with Chief Bogo about the Vita Coco case, giving our own almost identical opinions while appearing less a than a minute from each other, and then we'll meet again at the station's new West Wing exit? Am I right, or am I _completely_ right?" The strength in Jude's voice matched his assertive posing, the rabbit pressing his paws against his chest. Even if he'd let Nick lead him around somewhere new, he clearly didn't want to get pushed around anymore.

"Why, you read my mind, carrots," Nick responded.

" _Good_ , you should know by now that _I_ also plan and predict just as well as the rest of them." Jude shoved out a paw against the middle of Nick's shirt and brushed it upward, the rabbit forcing a determined expression across his face. "Lets go."

The fox paused as Jude hopped upward and flung open the door, the rabbit stepping out into the hallway. Nick immediately nestled his body over and posed himself atop Jude, both of his front paws on Jude's shoulders. The cops looked out in both directions.

"I think the coast is clear," the rabbit said.

"Yep," Nick replied.

"You already invented some excuse for why we left our offices and went to this weird little meeting room, didn't you?" Jude asked, looking up at the fox. As the two of them stood closely together, Nick's predatory paws slipped up the rabbit's shoulder and cradled around Jude's neck.

"Yep."

"So, there's no reason for us to be sneaky?"

"Yep."

"And we're just sticking our heads out atop each other's for old time's sake? That plus an excuse for you to rub up against me?"

"Yep."

"Smug fox."

"Dumb bunny."

Jude pretended to punch Nick's side, instead tapping his paw against the fox's badge. The cops then stepped out into the hallway and made their way over to the center of the police station. The rabbit, conflicting emotions still shifting every which way inside of his mind, spent a lot of time looking at the floor.

"Nick," Jude began, coming to a stop at the end of the next hallway, "what kind of place exactly are we talking about after work—"

"Guys!" Clawhauser exclaimed. The feline suddenly thrust himself out of an open door and nearly trampled the two cops.

"Hey!" Jude and Nick both called out, flipping themselves around and sucking in a large breath.

"I never did really tell you just how _great_ that moment earlier was, but— wait, now— it's official business," Clawhauser went on, pushing himself against the open door as it swung completely open, "it turns out that that Officer Fangmeyer has a solid lead on those long, blinking bits of electronics. They're ironclad evidence on the Vita Coco case. Just before arresting this one perp, she noticed him trying to ditch a big blue baggie with a few weird things in it. She didn't get that good of a look herself. The rest of the weasel gang may be keeping quiet, _but_ this perp is blabbing. He's copped to smuggling these blinking tubes to street after street— score two for the investigation!"

"Oh, that's really great," Jude replied, trying to get his mind off of Nick's soft tail had fallen against the back his legs.

"Hey, before I say another word, I really want to know." Both the fox and rabbit visibly tensed, eyes growing wide. "What's in that baggie? That's looks _exactly_ like the one on the weasels— down to the circle logo and everything. Where'd you get it?"

"Oh, uh, I've got a _trophy_ in there," Nick responded, leaning his head to the side. Jude fought the urge to whack the fox in the belly while groaning out loud. "Something from here, something really meaningful, which shouldn't be idly stored but should be taken home to preserve happy memories— that make sense?"

"Wait, but where'd you get the baggie?" Clawhauser asked.

"It's a pretty weird coincidence," Nick began, slipping a paw against the plastic, "but, hey, maybe it's worth looking into. These are what you put tokens, tickets, and prizes into when you play some of those new arcade games set up in bunch of places. The fancy ones such as 'Prance Prance Weasel Revolution' and the rest being set up in the nicer bars and restaurants, you know?"

"Oh, that's interesting," said the feline, scratching his chin, "it's probably not really a lead, but I still would—"

"Clawhauser?" The sudden voice came from directly behind and underneath the feline, surprising all of the mammals.

The feline gripped one of his radios and held it up. "Oh, yes?"

"Yeah, hey, I'm not exactly sure what's wrong," went the loud, fuzzy voice, "but your desktop is totally doing that thing you warned me about. It's all glowing with weird stripes flashing— almost like that little kit's cartoon show where the space aliens made computer explode with their butt lasers or whatever."

"Someday!" Clawhauser suddenly yelled out. His face contorted and eyes narrowed while both Nick and Jude suddenly felt a little bit scared. "Someday, Minkrosoft, you will force me against my will to upgrade to Wildebeests 10! Someday, the will of mammals shall fail! _But today shall not be that day!_ "

"Oh, dear," Jude meekly let out. Nick, for his part, restrained himself enough to remain silent.

Clawhauser shifted a bit in place before looking at his watch and suddenly putting back on his usual, happy expression. "Oh, and we're all leaving soon aren't we? I'm sorry that I can't talk more! See you both!"

The feline scurried down a side hallway. Jude glared over at Nick, his eyes burning against the back of the fox's head. Nick scratched the back of his neck while looking back slightly, yet again using that seductive toothy smile of his. "Alright, I'll admit it, even for me calling a semen-stained shirt a 'trophy' is a really gross line."

"Well, _yeah_ ," Jude remarked, "no kidding."

"I should warn you. That's the kind of line that the clubbers at the place that I want to take you will high-five me for saying," Nick said, preparing to exit into a stairwell while the rabbit simply stared at him, " _but_ I promise you that the food, drinks, games, and more will be worth it. I _can_ be caring and tender. Give me the chance."

Another angry tapping of his footpaw against the floor did little good, but it made Jude feel better all the same before they both went off in their opposing directions. "Paws down the pants first, and then drinks second," the rabbit muttered to himself as he put away various things in his office, "I swear, Nick would take a carrot cake that needs ten minutes at 400 degrees and try to spend one minute with it at 4,000 degrees."

Time had flown by before both the fox and rabbit met once again, the officers having stepped out away from the police station into a rather uncrowded side street. Jude, nervousness growing with every passing minute, glanced up all around the featureless concrete floors with their generic windows and pale steel fire escapes. The fox made some efforts at light conversation while motioning the rabbit on every once and a while, none of that helping despite how open-minded Jude tried to feel.

When the bunny learned from the fox that they had a quick turn in the alley to go before their destination, Jude stopped to hold his paws against the air in front of him. Nick shifted his head a little to the side and listened. " _So_ , Nick, we may be only a hop and a skip away from a fancy location where we can sip on something tasty and cuddle while soft music plays. _Or_ it may be an entrance into a dark mini-universe of kinksters and perverts," Jude said. He didn't want to hide anxiety bubbled up inside of him, and his expression showed it.

"I guarantee you that we won't see any astronomical-type events."

"It's just, well," Jude began, taking in a little breath, "okay, I know that I'm not making that much sense. Can we maybe change plans to just seeing a movie, or having dinner at a friend's house instead, or something like that?" He waved his paws about. "I know, I know, I said that drinks at some club or whatever else would be nice and romantic. I just... I don't have that good of a history with those places." 

The fox silently smiled. He stepped backwards so that the fire escape above him cast an odd shadow, looking like giant black arms going around his belly. As Nick pointed off for Jude to simply keep walking, the bunny's nervousness waned. The fox massaged Jude's back yet again, the two of them not saying anything for a moment.

"Nick, really, I don't mind you being in control. You picking where to go, what to eat, and all— that's fine. It's how you do it. After a whole day riling me up enough that I blow off some steam _on me_ ," Jude went on, still gesturing with his paws in the air, "you— yes, _you_ — may think surrounding me with all these _raw_ and _wild_ mammals is an automatic switch for you to then blow off your steam _in me_. Is that right?" Jude narrowed his eyes. "Get that out of your mind, please? You have to have seen real dating in like... in a romantic comedy movie somewhere, say."

"You know," Nick began, making his way forward and walking right past Jude, "there's probably a really sweet pun with 'Wilde' and 'Wild' there, but I can't quite think of it." While his expression looked flat, the teasing in his voice still bled right through.

Jude muttered something unintelligible in response, closing his eyes for a moment. Yet the rabbit duly walked on behind the fox just the same. Finally, the two of them found themselves in front of a massive red and black edifice. Metal and concrete stacked up ominously as jagged edge sat atop jagged edge. Jude tried not to groan, everything about the building signaling him to keep walking off to somewhere else. The establishment even dubbed itself 'The Night Bite'.

A strong crimson glow burst out from the buildings huge double doors, the light drawing the eye even in the not yet dark early evening. The two cops lingered under the long black struts pointing into the air— neon tubing, glowing bright red, wiggling around all over as well— and looked out at the establishment's entrance. While the adjacent street appeared oddly calm, almost deadened, a few finely-dressed mammals passed right by Jude to head inside. Still, the rabbit thought that the edifice looked designed to scare off potential patrons rather than to invite them in.

"Pred/prey nightclub? Or LGBT bar and hangout?" Jude asked, running a paw against one of his arms and turning his eyes again to Nick.

"Why not both?" the fox said as he stepped forward. His smirk, combined with his half-closed eyes, just seemed to ooze naughtiness. The rabbit took in how the entrance literally made mammals descend with every step in order to get inside.

"After what I've been through with you, well, I'm trying to stay willing to try new things in new places. It all _could_ work out, but I've still got a lot of things to say," Jude said, following the fox into the immense glow of the double doors. Ironically enough, he remained silent for a few seconds as he walked inside.

"As you wish," Nick cryptically replied. The fox gazed straight down at the rabbit. He looked quite smug as much as he radiated out the sense of being in control. Oddly smooth new wave music flowed out from overhead, scrambling Jude's thoughts for a moment. The rabbit closed his eyes and tried to go on.

"Let's call them 'ground rules'. First of all," Jude murmured, "if I hear a serious usage of _'It's not gay if it's prey'_ in front of me, I'm ready to smack a guy. Especially if the catchphrase gets a 'dude' thrown into it somewhere."

"Flipping like a light-switch from curiosity to dominance there, carrots?" Nick commented as they both stepped through the light. "I think that's a good sign that you'll be fine. When it comes to me, well, everything about this place says: 'Welcome home'."

Jude had a maelstrom of emotions and expectations inside of him while going into 'The Night Bite'. The rabbit could fend for himself— he beaten challenge after challenge to prove that. Yet his smattering of past experiences in 'regular bars' with 'regular guys' had burned into his memory due to several embarrassing moments. Everything stamped them as too angry, too animated, and finally— most importantly of all— too arrogant. Various televisions hoisted up in the air had blared self-serving blather about boring nonsense. Gangs of quasi-friends competed with lonely strangers to win over badly-dressed cliques of females— snapping at each other at a moment's notice for any real or perceived slight.

Jude snapped back to the current moment as his eyes feasted on the insides of the pred/prey-themed nightclub. The smooth electropop music— seeming both experimental and yet familiar— had such a soothing tone that it felt like hearing an ocean tide and matching breeze. Jude's eyes hopped around the many couples and adventurous individuals spread all across the wide open middle of the complex. While many dressed in varying degrees of flamboyance— hyenas with ears covered in bright rainbow piercings talking to tall foxes in jet black fishnet shirts— many others appeared as if they had stepped right off of a regular Zootopian street. Fancy suited feline waiters served various booths over to the far left at the same time as many eager wolves played around with big arcade machines over to the far right. Constant cries of joy came from the gamers.

The rabbit's memory kept on running through various past sensations. The guys at the other bars that the rabbit had met dripped sheer arrogance and desperation— even the reasonably normal mammals only wanting to eat something and watch something with company had an unpleasant aura. They, like everyone else in those bars, had to endure the overpriced booze and stale snacks while generic four-chord hard rock droned on above them. At least, Jude thought, 'The Night Bite' tried to go their own way at, at least, a superficial level. Yet that didn't stop the anxiety coursing through his senses. An unknown danger that he couldn't quite place seemed to lurk in corner after corner, particularly with the vicious faces on predator after predator.

"So, welcome to the _ground floor_ ," Nick interjected, letting the sleek blue and purple lighting within the nightclub flash across his face as he walked in a little circle around Jude. The rabbit watched as Nick made a kind of high-sign to the mammal appearing behind him. The burly, tall ram nodded before using his brass knuckles covered grip to clutch a thick bottle of coconut water. "And, carrots, I'm certainly ready for running through some more _ground rules_. I want us both to have fun."

"Yes, right," Jude remarked, reflexively pausing to listen to the bouncer ram's comically loud sips, and he joined the fox in going down a few steps into an open space surrounded by a group of pretty ferns. Both of them took a moment to gaze at the predators and prey alike dancing nearby. Yet the cops soon sat down on a plush grey bench. "Well, I'm going to be honest, my feelings right now are kind of... conflicted."

Jude tried to keep his voice steady, unable to hide the confusion that came from the music, the dancing, the flamboyance, and everything else. It all didn't seem that hostile, yet it all didn't seem that welcoming either. Jude made himself stop to admire the neat marble pieces set up around the whole complex to try and clear his mind, with boxy white shapes housing miniature fountains that looked very elegant.

"After a long day at the station," Nick said, "I understand if you want nothing more than one sip of one drink before just heading back home. Maybe not even saying another sentence." He leaned back away from the rabbit and rubbed a paw up to around his left ear. "Give yourself a shower, make yet another change of clothes, and lie down, letting yourself think the whole thing over. _Our_ whole thing, from those stupid pawpsicles to all Bellwether's ranting to basic police training to everything else, is... is..."

"It's what?" asked Jude.

"Day after day of friendly flirting is one thing," Nick continued, "but I know that it's hard for you since you've never had a relationship. So, I—"

"Hey, _hey_!" Jude called out, feeling as if he'd been slapped across the face. He tried to put some power into his voice. "I've _had_ a relationship!"

"Oh," Nick muttered, "I t-thought that—"

"Uh, you thought wrong!"

"I'd, well, h-heard that you'd never... done anything."

"No! I something with a very special bunny, something really important and meaningful!"

"Carrots, in the conference room, you— you just—"

"Nick, so what if we didn't do anything R-rated? We were in love!"

"Oh," Nick responded, his open mouth clearly showing how confused he felt, "I... I think I get it."

"Nick, _please,_ that fact in no way means that the relationship somehow didn't count or something." Jude rolled his eyes and raised his voice even more. "You know, Nick, life isn't a checklist of sexual acts that you fill out one after the other, hoping for a gold star when you're about to kick the bucket."

"Of course, sure," Nick said, anxiously scratching his paws from side to side on the table, "it just surprises me that you've had a relationship before."

"Well," Jude began, looking down at the middle of the table for a moment as memories crossed his eyes, "not just one, what with—"

"And there were _others_?" Nick called out, the tension ramped up enough that sweat slipped down the sides of his face.

"Nick, seriously, relationships aren't like one of your arcade games. You don't you pick up every last, single coin or whatever else before yelling over to some other player that you beat their high score," Jude went on, "okay? _Come on,_ Nick!"

Seeing the fox sweating and looking flustered for the first time that whole day shot a wave of euphoria through the rabbit's limbs. Jude brushed his body up against the back of his seat as he watched Nick stammer. "N-no, I was really out of line just now. I'm sorry, carrots," the fox said, trying to think through Jude's mini-rant.

"Lets call that a second 'ground rule'. No dicking around with me about guys that I've spent time with in the past— polite questions _only_ , and _all_ of them can be refused," Jude added.

"Before we go through the rest of the rule book, I'm going to let all this out in a groan-inducing way," Nick declared, slipping away even more from his fellow officer as Jude looked on, "fact is: I'm a _tease_. With teasing, I don't even try. I just do it. Tonight, I'd like to _please_. Make sense? Yes, I'm saying this even after calling your cum-covered shirt a 'trophy' and everything else. Let me make it up to you."

The rabbit leaned back into the bunch of ferns behind him, and he said, "How about this? How about you go off like an underworld spy for a while, and I'll get a quasi-shower lying down by these plants and fountains— thinking relaxing, reflecting thoughts. Come back with two fruity drinks. Sound alright?"

"Deal," Nick replied, and he sauntered off to where the various bartenders stood. Jude let himself lay flat back where he had sat, a soft spray of water dripping against his side, and he closed his eyes. He had a handle on getting some confidence back, thank goodness, and he also had managed to see some cracks in the emotional wall that Nick had built.

It didn't take long, however, before Jude felt as if tiny insects were crawling across his arms and down onto his chest. Moment by moment of trying to relax and get his thoughts straight, the rabbit brushing his ears against the ferns and keeping his eyes half-closed, only caused his anxiety to seep all through his senses. Jude picked himself up and sat up straight. He had no reason to set foot into the pred/prey nightclub, let alone spend some time there, in the first place.

Still, his instincts had somehow made him trust Nick— it seemed like they both had at least a chance to relax somewhere. Left simply waiting by himself, though, Jude sensed predator after predator sizing him up from the distance. Dozens of assaulting expressions pointed the rabbit's way.

The booming music had shifted as time went on from soothing dance-pop to thumping electronic rock, songs playing that sounded like they were made by aspirin manufacturers. Jude's eyes wandered nervously around to the various clubbers that somehow enjoyed the racket. Only a hop and skip away, a spotted hyena wearing a bright purple jacket and a devious expression danced all around a tall chinchilla. Their matching crimson earrings jiggling as they moved, the two of them stopped as the music came to a momentary end, the hyena kneeling a bit and petting the little one's sides.

Jude smiled for the first time in a while at how sweetly the predator's paws slipped alongside the chinchilla's blushing face. Yet Jude's face immediately turned red himself, the rabbit popping his ears up high in the air, as he saw the predator jump forward and seize the prey's entire body in the predator's mouth. Dark moments before Bellwether's arrest flashing through Jude's mind, the hyena snarled as the rabbit shivered.

The hyena abruptly began to make his way in Jude's direction. The rabbit wiggled backwards where he sat. His overcome emotions made him unable to say a word, Jude simply listening to the chinchilla crying out a torrent of bliss-soaked moans. The prey even drooled from raw pleasure while predator locked the little one helplessly underneath his pearly whites. Both mammals glanced over at the bunny, doing nothing more than just acknowledging Jude's existence, before the hyena clutched something out of a bowl and turned tail.

Jude's anxiously shook his paws against his legs, watching the hyena going off behind a massive bunch of plants, before hopping over to the table with the mysterious bowl. The bunny perked his ears to the side as he heard the chinchilla moaning out again in raw delight— knowing that the predator's mouth still gripped the middle of the prey's warm flesh. Jude took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and tried not to think about the knot that had formed in his stomach.

The rabbit's nose twitching, he leaned up and picked up one of the packets inside the bowl. "Wait— _wait_ — you've got to be kidding me," Jude remarked to nobody in particular, eyes burning onto the sides of the cherry-flavored condom and tiny bottle of lubricant in his paws, "do they seriously hand these things out _like candy_?" Wondering why he had even began to trust Nick to take him to this kind of place, the knot in the bunny's stomach swelled up even larger.

"They sure have for a few months now," popped up a voice from somewhere behind the rabbit. Jude flipped around and stared up at an immense wolf— layers of red-painted metal clinked against the predator's thick jacket as matching red chains went around the wolf's neck. "They're easy not to notice, but there's actually bowl after bowl of these 'goodie bags' set up all around the club."

The wolf grinned from ear to ear, moving up a paw to pull down her small sunglasses. Her peculiar voice blended femininity and masculinity in a way that Jude had never heard before, though the wolf's enormous chest gave more than a hint in terms of her gender. The rabbit couldn't help but notice all of the red that the wolf's outfit featured— a sign that he'd read showed a predator with a taste for prey in the bedroom.

"Alright then," Jude meekly replied. He braced himself to be hit on, wondering exactly when Nick would finally show up again.

"Say, I _love_ seeing a new face," the wolf went on. Jude began to sweat as he realized how blatantly he had stared at the predator's chest a moment ago. "Especially one that's holding something that gives such a great idea for later evening events— just saying! What's your name, honey?"

"I'm sorry, but I just," Jude began, his voice trailing off as he wagged a paw in the air and stepped over to an even more isolated corner of the nightclub, "I'm with someone." The bunny nervously slipped the 'goodie bag' into a pocket.

"Well, to be honest, so was I," the wolf continued, moving a bit behind the rabbit, " _but_ now that my little sheep has wandered off to someone else over by the gaming machines, well, I don't have any set plans left over for the evening." She started to walk closer but froze as Jude reflexively tapped a footpaw in her direction. "Hey, honey, I'm just asking for a name. That's not a crime, is it?"

Jude rubbed a paw against his temple, thankful that, at least, the wolf had give him a little bit of space. "I can't believe that I didn't bring it up with Nick why it'd be okay for us to stay in our uniforms," he muttered.

"Oh, you're a _real_ cop too?" the wolf asked, her face lighting up even more than before. Jude noticed that the predator's open mouth showed off the her pierced tongue, something that the bunny thought probably hurt a lot. "You're meeting all my standards and then some, hah! That uniform has the real latex and everything?"

"Yes, it's, uh, tight and functional," Jude said, immediately mentally kicking himself for the poor choice of words, "look, ma'am, I really do apologize, but I'm _seriously_ here with someone. A guy that's—" The rabbit shifted his head to the side and saw Nick walking over with a little tray featuring two drinks. "Coming over right soon." Jude lowered his voice. "Took you damn long enough, Nick."

"Wait, you said Nick? Big foxy Nicky-baby? Oh, gosh, I'm not here. I'm _not here_ ," the wolf declared, fanning her face in mock-melodrama and stepping away from the rabbit, "honey, I'm sorry. I can't be seen with him, not since he broke my little lamb's heart last week. Not that he hasn't left conquered woolly, fluffy, and furry behinds all across this club, but that's a _long_ story."

"Hey, wait!" Jude suddenly exclaimed. The wolf comically ran in place for a moment. "I just— um, well— I want the straight story on 'Nicky-baby' when it comes to these pred/prey clubs." The unintentional pun and the tactless method of questioning hit Jude a second after he closed his mouth, feeling like a slap on the arm.

"Oh," the wolf began, slapping a paw upon a knee and making a hearty laugh, "he's a _marshmallow,_ honey! Harmless as a plush elephant and as cuddly as one to boot!" Jude tried to look out and found Nick getting distracted, the fox talking to some tall wolf with red shorts and matching red roller-blades. "Between you and me—" The rabbit let out a soft noise as the wolf gripped Jude's collar and leaned down, the big wolf uncomfortably bringing them face to face. "As much as Nicky-baby has played around with me and so many predators, which I know he's loved every second of, he's also a _true carnivore_ at heart. He craves fuzzy little prey with their fuzzy little bottoms, and who can blame him?"

"No surprise there," Jude muttered, mind flashing through a bunch of feminine prey males that the rabbit had seen around the club. Jude wondered how many of them Nick had cycled through in just the past month alone.

"The sticking point with my little lamb was, sorry to say, that the talk turned to something more than just friends-with-benefits. They couldn't agree to some kind of commitment. So, it all fell apart."

" _Commitment_ ," Jude repeated, raising his voice. Hearing that term applied to Nick felt like calling Clawhauser 'mean', Bogo 'peaceful', or Bellwether 'trustworthy'.

"That word just drips out hate, like the opening to a damn sewer, doesn't it?" the wolf asked, though going on immediately without letting Jude answer, "whatever happened to Nicky-baby two weeks ago, it soured him something fierce on riding the usual boy-to-girl-to-boy plus prey-to-predator-to-prey carousel. Really wish I knew what it was. Such a shame, too, for how _well_ he _rides_ — I can tell you from experience multiple times over, honey! My lamb couldn't get pushed too far, and neither can I, to be honest. We're strong willed and can't be tied down. I really should go and look for him again."

"It was nice, uh, talking to you," Jude said. Locking eyes with the predator, he drew a mental blank on what to do for several awkward seconds. He finally thrust up a paw for the wolf to shake, which she did before giggling and making her way over to the arcade gaming section of the nightclub. Jude rubbed his temple, taking in another deep breath.

"So, he 'soured' on something, eh? But weird habits are still weird habits," Jude muttered to himself, "and he's not going to even understand a committed relationship unless he gets dragged into it somehow, isn't he?"

The fox had clearly gotten affected by the two of them being assigned together. At the same time, Jude thought, Nick's experiences seemed to program him to do nothing else except hunt down predator and prey mammals alike. The fox had an appetite, and he fed it. Jude closed his eyes for a moment. Even though Nick would be right before him at any second, the rabbit's mind said to simply turn tail and leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make a little note here that I've revised the second chapter to this since I first uploaded it. What was the original version (with some small differences here and there, but this is essentially what I originally had) for those interested can be viewed here: http://pastebin.com/RMh7sMgy


	3. Chapter 3

**[Chapter Three]**

"Hey!" Nick abruptly called out, showing up at the rabbit's side. He wiggled his head a bit over to the other side of the nightclub, gesturing even as his paws gripped a tray of fruity drinks. "I know, I know— I took _forever_." The two of them started walking over to the dining section of the nightclub.

"Everybody knows you, and everybody wants to talk to you when they see you— I suppose," Jude remarked, trying to cover his emotions with a big shrug even as so many different thoughts bubbled up in his mind.

The fox nodded while setting the tray of drinks down in the middle of a nice booth, sliding himself into place across from the rabbit. "Here more than most places, they've gotten to know me more—"

" _Intimately_ ," Jude interjected. The fox froze, his paws held mid-air from the tall glass that he was about to grasp. "Yes, 'here more than more places', I know."

"Uh, right," Nick replied, and Jude allowed himself to smile as his eyes feasted on the fox's overcome expression. Still, seeing Nick knocked off of his emotional balance and kept down didn't stop that knot in Jude's stomach from twisting and turning.

"You know," Jude began, sipping on his own drink as the fox did the same, "I could give you more 'ground rules' right now before we engage in some silly banter. I could ask for you to match these almost glowing, fruity alcoholic things with some kind of snack. I could invite you to dance. I could do a lot of various dating type things with you."

"Yes," Nick meekly said, nodding once again.

" _And_ I'm not going to do any of that," Jude went on, finishing up his drink, "instead, I'm going ask for you to _take me home_." Those words killed the uncomfortable sensations rippling across the rabbit's body, the oppressive atmosphere of the pred/prey club lifting.

"Carrots, really?" Nick paw anxiously wiggled against his neck as he shifted in his spot. His shocked face showed none of the smugness that had almost shined through earlier that day.

"Yes, and I mean _now_ ," Jude said, slipping himself out of the spot that he had sat in only a few seconds ago.

"Carrots, please!" Nick jiggled himself over and thrust out a paw, holding Jude's at the edge of the booth's table. "Just let me—"

" _Hey,_ sorry, but down in front!" A skinny panther jumped upwards from the booth right beside theirs, reaching for something above Jude's head. The rabbit looked straight up, seeing the panther's nipple piercings wiggling in the air against the predator's fishnet shirt. In just a split-second, the panther's paw shoved in and out of a bowl that wobbled over, starting to fall atop Jude's head.

The rabbit hopped himself to the side in time. Yet the bowl smacked against the table with a loud noise before spilling out condom packet after condom packet all over the place. The panther, for his part, seemed to vanish.

Jude and Nick both looked down at the pile of condoms scattered across the rabbit's lap and down his legs. Jude silently wiggled himself out of the booth entirely, holding up both paws in the air. He stomped off over to the nightclub's exit, letting out an angry sigh. Nick followed right behind the rabbit, stammering for a bit, before finally hopping forward himself and standing right in front of the rabbit.

"Carrots, I— I want to talk to you about this, at least," he murmured, leaning off to the left and then to the right as the rabbit tried to walk right past him. Jude relented and braced his paws on his hips, looking up at the fox's blank yet sweaty face. "Talk to you about _us_ , okay? It's important."

"Then just say it."

"Jude, I— _I—-_ I just— _I love you_ ," he declared, sweating even more as he gestured with both paws in front of his face.

"And how many boys and girls alike have you said 'I love you' to in the past year? In the past month? Even in the past _few weeks_?" Jude asked, tapping a footpaw in frustration before simply turning his head away from the fox and over toward the exit.

"It's _different_. It's— _I'm—_ look, I can't explain it, not in words really, but I'm telling you that it's _seriously_ different," Nick said, seeing the rabbit beginning to walk away. The fox took a gulp before running over and standing right in front of the rabbit yet again, that time dropping to his knees. "Carrots, please!" He looked down at the floor before holding his paws out and slipping them against the bunny's shoulders. " _Jude._ Please."

"Nick..."

"There's never been anybody in my life like you. And there will never be anybody else ever again in my life like you."

The bunny remained silent and motionless for a moment, taking in the fox's genuinely warm smile and the caring softness to the fox's voice. Jude then reached up and pressed with his own paw against Nick's chest, rubbing upwards and tapping against his badge. "I don't have to ask if you mean it." Jude thought that he had heard the real mammal from under the smug facade. It still didn't change how he felt. "Your sense of what 'is' or 'is not' romantic may be crap, but I know that you mean it. The question is still, well, you might _mean_ it, but can you _live_ it? What is 'commitment' to you? Is it—"

"Watch out, coming through!" Both fox and rabbit flipped their bodies over, eyes growing wide, as a sudden gaggle of voices erupted behind them. Bright flashes going off in the air caused both of them to thrust their paws over their eyes. As they both peeked through, they saw a group of bears with white fur and extremely tight black shorts chasing around various little prey mammals.

The predators wielded those weird tubular electronic devices in their paws. The cops watched as a wolf cornered a short antelope and thrust the device onto the prey's belly— it blinked all over before shooting some kind of chemical spray out onto the antelope's fur. The prey made a goofy laugh before the predator half-heartedly bit upon her arm. The whole odd scene seemed to take up a full third of the nightclub.

"The weasel gang's things are _drug dispensing devices_?" Jude asked, shaking his head in disbelief. The rabbit turned his head over to the fox, mind racing through thoughts that Nick had given a blind eye to this before. Yet Jude saw that Nick appeared just as shocked he did. The fox's fur seemed on edge, Nick scuffling about on the floor and leaning upon Jude.

"I can't believe this. Right under my nose, in the same place I've gone to over and over again," the fox muttered, banging his legs together in raw frustration, "the same morons that almost _broke my neck_ are smuggling freaky fetish toys!"

"You guys didn't know that it's 'chase night'? It's _so cool_ ," remarked one of the bears. The cops remain sitting flat down in the floor as the predator-on-prey hunting game went on all around them. Making bug-eyed faces and screaming out in feral noises, the group of mammals appeared completely obsessed with their role-playing.

"It's like 'laser tag' meets 'ancient jousting' meets 'poppers'! A little chemical stimulation to help the fun and games," said another bear as he tried to thrust himself upon a small ram, "if you're really daring you can even mod it to give a little shock, you know, for the hardcore carnivores and appetizers!"

"Yeah, guys, try it," called over a gigantic weasel with raggedy jeans and a dirty 'Meles Meles' t-shirt, tossing one of the devices over.

"You know we're cops, right?" Jude asked, hopping upward and batting the electronic tube back. The weasel caught it mid-air and giggled profusely. "The uniforms! The belts! The badges! Any of that ring a bell?" He tapped all around his outfit as he glared at the club-goers.

"It's so damn _hot_ , I know," one of the bears called over just moments before play-stabbing another antelope in the back, "before you guys go off stripping, can you stay for the wet t-shirt contest? It's just like five minutes!"

"Hey, Nicky-baby," interjected a skinny, feminine-looking polar bear that popped up behind the officers, "it's been _far_ too long." He waved his electronic tube above his hair for a moment while making a huge smile. "Crazy forward to just up and ask you, I know, _but_ you wanna take me back to our usual private room upstairs? It's been like three weeks since I've seen you, yeah, but I'm so Goddamn drugged up that I'm pushed way on the edge." He winked. "I might pop after three seconds of your, hehe, _foxy frotting_ —"

"I've _really_ had enough!" Jude yelled, shoving Nick away from him. The moment he jumped over to the exit, though, two big blue baggies smacked against his face. Jude gritted his teeth as he shivered with anger. He ripped off the plastic hanging upon his ears, his eyes burning holes into Nick's body for a few seconds. Jude then turned around and stamped out of the nightclub completely.

Nick didn't move a muscle for a while. His brains felt as if they had started to drip out of his ears, his senses feeling so overcome with how badly he messed everything up. He finally opened his mouth and called out something for the mammals around him to stop, mind running through the various stimulant formulas that they may be on. Yet the hedonistic clubbers all ignored him.

Rubbing the side of his head against a massive plant, trying not to cry, Nick then slammed his footpaws on the floor. He groaned out in sheer frustration before punching open the club's double-doors. Sucking in a huge breath, Nick sped away the nightclub after the rabbit.

The fox followed the bunny down the street in which the nightclub sat, rain beginning to drip down above them. Nick called out something without words, fear creeping up his back as a few raindrops slid down his cheeks. Hearing nothing back, he jogged even faster. Coming up upon a massive sign reading 'one way' in the middle of the sidewalk, Jude suddenly stopped. The bunny brushed both paws across his face before shifting his head back, a few raindrops likewise dripping on his nose.

"Nick," Jude said, tapping the metal pole beneath the sign, "if we were on duty, we could have arrested something like thirty mammals back there! _God!_ You know, too, that we have any moral and ethical obligation to call up somebody that _is_ on duty to go in right now!"

"I know," the fox replied, nervously tapping his paws, "I'm as surprised about it as you are. I'm sorry, too, and I just— well— as far as a legitimate date goes, the past hour or so could hardly have gone worse. And it's completely my fault."

"Look, _please_ , you need to listen to me," Jude said. The fox nodded, his eyes widening as so much worried emotion almost poured out of them. "As much as I care about you and know that you care about me, even after playing around together in the station too, I _still_ don't think you and I should have that kind of relationship."

"Jude, I understand," Nick replied. The fox stepped forward so that he stood over the rabbit, the growing rain going down upon his head and sheltering the bunny. "You've had enough nonsense. You deserve a serious date. Tonight has been... been... a weird fluke. I promise you." The lack of a response only amped up the fox's feelings of desperation. "I can still tell that it's more than that, though."

"Can you, _really,_ " the bunny said, gazing directly into the fox's eyes, "understand what a lasting, committed relationship means? At least, well, what it means to _me_?" Jude brushed his back upon the metal and made a little sigh. "It's fine to be young, gay, and single. Be a pleasure-seeker. That's just nothing like _me_ — never has been."

"We've been through a lot, well before we got assigned as full cops together. I know that you're a really special bunny."

"It's a cliche, I know, but it's true. If you say that you 'love me', then you have to mean that you 'love me forever'," Jude said, Nick intimately embracing him as the fox slipped a paw along the rabbit's shoulders, "there can't be anyone else. There can't be anything going on. It'll just be you and me— together and committed. That's it."

"I mean it. I know you're not sure, but I really do. The answer is 'yes'— how could it be anything other than 'yes'?" Nick asked, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead against the rabbit's ears. "I don't have to be in control all of the time. As you've seen tonight, I _can't_ be, as much as I might want to. I can try for a lasting relationship. I really love you. I really want to love you, yes, _forever_."

Jude said nothing back for a moment, trying to push himself away from Nick. He finally went, "Nick, well, I guess that those are some... _pretty words_." Jude's expression looked as blank and cold as the concrete bricks beside him. "I'm sure the mouse or lamb or whatever other boy you prey on next will blush."

"What... what does that mean?" asked Nick.

"Oh, do you really even care what it means? You just do what you want," Jude replied.

"Jude, I'm... I mean, I deserve that."

"Yes, you do, and I— I just— I need to get home."

"Please..."

"Please _what_?"

Nick gulped after taking in Jude's responses, tingles of sadness shooting through his body as the rain dripped down on him. "Well, I mean, do you really _need_ to go home?"

"You're an odd one to split hairs between 'wanting' and 'needing' something," Jude remarked, his stare going right through Nick down the rest of the street, "Nick, I'm going home now, and I'm doing it by myself. Have a good rest of the night."

"Okay," Nick mouthed, his voice only a tad above a whisper.

Jude pulled out his cellphone as he walked away, sliding through a few applications. "I'm not sure how long I'll wait until I call someone on duty to bust the role-playing predator junkies. I think—"

Nick suddenly gripped Jude tightly, pulling him in for a passionate hug with his paws grasping Jude's sides. The fox buried his face in the bunny's neckline. Nick felt such bliss being together, even if it ended up only lasting for half a minute. He then leaned backward and let Jude slip out of his embrace.

Jude calmly and gently pushed Nick away. "You still matter to me. After everything we've been through nothing will change that. I still deserve some time to myself." The bunny picked up his cellphone from the sidewalk and stepped away from Nick.

"There was no reason to go so fast— to push things. It'll be alright," Nick murmured. He didn't know if he was saying that to himself, to the rabbit, or to both of them. It didn't really matter. "I know what I need to do to _make it_ alright."

Nick took several steps away from the sign, making his way back past the nightclub to where he and Jude had parked. He gritted his teeth, fighting hard against the tears that started dripping down as hard as the rain. As much as he gave Jude space, he couldn't help but lock his eyes on the back of the rabbit's head and think of how much he'd let his partner down.

Thought after thought stung Nick as the rain poured down. He'd also let himself down. He'd, Nick knew, let everybody at the entire station down— a great deal of sweat, mammal-hours, and more had been spent trying to crack down on this gang network. Yet he'd let it all happen in the same place that he'd spent night after night. He'd sucked down beers and gazing at wiggling prey rears while drug deals probably happened right at the other end of the bar— he might as well had been blind.

Still, that would never hurt as much as letting Jude down. It hit Nick with the force of something like a bodybuilder hurling him against the wall to really get that Jude deserved somebody better. He flashed back to how one of the grizzled veterans with Internal Affairs had said something peculiar to him on his first day— Nick getting lectured to learn the difference between being 'the one in control' and being 'the one responsible'.

"Responsible," Nick repeated, snapping into focus as he accidentally stepped on someone's lost shoe. He kicked it to the side, eyes moving along the sidewalk, and he put on a determined expression. Suddenly, Nick jogged upward and snatched the cellphone right out of Jude's paws.

"Hey! Wait, now," Jude called out, "who the hell are you calling?"

"Josie at Internal Affairs," Nick calmly replied, still jogging as Jude hopped around closely behind him, "I'm going to tell her that I've been hanging out in a smuggling and drug-dealing center. One where friends and exes alike need to be investigated."

"Nick, that's—"

"I'm also going to get her to bring in McHorn immediately to arrest everybody that we can. I've got to hurry if I'm looking to catch them in the act."

"Nick, you're going to be at least suspended for at least a week as the internal investigation goes on— "

"Of course!" Nick exclaimed, pressing the cellphone against his head. A pained smile appeared on his face. "I've... well, doing the responsible thing isn't really fun, but I could use the free time in a bunch of ways. Organize that sock drawer? Paint those Warhogger 40,000 figurines?" He chuckled nervously. "Clean out the squashed peas from the back of the refrigerator? I'll be fine."

As uncomfortable and awkward his conversations with Josie and McHorn were, the actual bust— taking place amid the nightclub's wet t-shirt contest no less— more than doubled those painful feelings. Sitting alone in the back of an extra squad car being driven by Fangmeyer and McHorn— watching the rain scattering across the window while thinking of Jude— somehow hurt even worse. Nick finally closed his eyes and zoned out, hoping against hope that he somehow proved something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make a little note here that I've revised the third chapter to this since I first uploaded it. What was the original version (with some small differences here and there, but this is essentially what I originally had) for those interested can be viewed here: http://pastebin.com/8j54wDSg


	4. Chapter 4

**[Chapter Four]**

High noon of yet another day suspended from the ZPD, Nick's wallet and uniform duly turned in and his old shirts back on, found the fox idly leaning up against a bench. He took in the sun as he looked at the front of a little comic book store. Nick scratched his nose as his eyes wandered over to a newly minted poster. He wondered if the character still had alien DNA plus an invisible motorcycle or not, his mind going through how decades of varying writers and artists had interpreted things differently. All in all, the background didn't matter that much, and trying to force everything to work together neatly just caused trouble. He began to take a step forward, thinking of grabbing that latest issue

"That outfit would _never_ hold up those huge breasts," Jude suddenly remarked, jumping out of the store and hopping up alongside Nick.

"That's, well, one of those _implied_ superpowers that you just have to accept," Nick said, turning around and gazing at the rabbit. He had on his same loose, casual outfit as when Jude had first met him. Yet Jude, while still wearing ZPD get-up, seemed to put on these easy-peasy airs— the tiny buttons and large pockets made it clear that he had been doing simple desk-work rather than anything exciting.

The rabbit held out a paw that Nick happily shook. "Glad to see you."

"Likewise," Nick began, "but I'm wondering what would possibly bring you here of all places. I'm guessing that you just finished your shifts, but still..."

"Funny enough," Jude said, reaching down to his fanny pack and pulling out a bunch of glossy booklets, "I had no idea what the hell you were talking about with 'Warhogger 40,000' the other day, but I got so curious. I spent a bunch of time on Zoogle looking into it, and now I'm hooked."

"Oh, well," Nick commented, tapping a paw against Jude's shoulder, "don't let too many mammals know about all of the peculiar posts, fancy figurines, nasty novels, and the like. The fandom's themes are so fascinating, and that's what's important. All of this stuff about 'power' versus 'pleasure' versus—"

"You can stop with those two words, and I get the appeal for you," Jude joked, making the fox smile a genuine, happy smile, "but, anyways, I need to say that I'm really happy to see you. I really mean it."

"Same here," Nick said, awkwardly stepping a bit to the side.

"It won't be too long until the suspension ends, and that's pretty straightforward. It's painful, but I know that this will all end up with a bunch of weasels behind bars for a long time. For you, nothing more than a reprimand in the books the long run, so it'll work out okay."

"Basically," Nick replied, his voice betraying how incredibly lonely he had felt. Going from day after day spent with an adorable bunny partner coupled with night after night hanging with perverts to an isolated, pseudo-unemployed state hit him brutally. He could barely keep from simply reaching out and hugging Jude right at that moment.

"I've also been thinking about the things that you said to me in our botched 'date'. There's a lot that I'd like to say," Jude went on, "but, well, it's time for me to head home."

Visibly deflated, Nick nodded and waved a paw in the air while turning around. "Going home, right... okay." He blankly stared downward at the concrete as he walked away from the rabbit. "See you later then."

Jude suddenly stood up straight and hopped over down the sidewalk. Appearing in front of the fox almost as if by magic, the rabbit brushed a paw against Nick's shirt. "Nick, you silly," Jude said, "if we're boyfriend-and-boyfriend, then my 'home' is your 'home' and yours is mine too, isn't it?"

"Wait, _wait_ ," Nick stammered, waving his arms forward, "I don't understand. You're not... aren't you still mad... I mean..."

"Having time to myself meant time to think," Jude went on, smiling widely, "and I'm sure that's also true for you. For my part, well, I think that having a relationship means something like a back-and-forth. I'm fine with that. Why not spend some time relaxing with you at your apartment?"

The fox slipped his face into the rabbit's neckline, his teeth slipping against Jude's fur. "Yes! Yes, of course!" His paws locked upon the rabbit's body, clutching him to his own fur, and he couldn't remember ever feeling so happy before. "That's a great idea!"

"I know that you love me. I know that you mean it. And I think you're ready to understand what it means to love someone, to really make something of it," Jude murmured, letting the fox totally embrace him.

"So much," Nick replied, feeling fur upon fur so intimately already, "you're already so much a part of me. Even just a little bit of time alone is unbearable."

"You live just a hop and a skip north, don't you? So!" Jude lifted his head up and rubbed his ears against the fox's body, the bunny almost cooing in pleasure. "Take me home. Take me home— your home being my home _forever_ , well, would be nice."

Nick cuddled the rabbit, holding Jude in his arms so closely that they started to breathe in sync, and he made his way to a nearby apartment building. Jude closed his eyes and let himself just live in the moment, hearing the fox sliding a key-card into a reader before creaking open a door. The rabbit's ears gently brushed up against the sides of a stairwell as Nick carried him up to the right place.

"Here we are," Nick remarked, snapping Jude out of the rabbit's happy haze. Jude hopped down and went to the end of a blank looking hallway, seeing nothing but a few rock band posters and little tables with piles of paperwork, dishtowels, and food trash. Faced with three doors to choose from, the rabbit froze for a second, brushing a paw idly upon the wall. "Right is the bedroom, carrots."

Waves of nervousness suddenly crept across the bunny's body, his tail twitching. Even the smells coming out of the room seemed so peculiar and uncertain. Sensing the fox right behind him, Jude still thrust his paw upward and opened the door, hopping forward.

"So, well, this is the... the _moment_ ," Jude said, stepping into the middle of the room. His glances flew all around the bedroom as he nervously scratched his neck. Item after item from a collection of rare baseball cards in a display on the wall to a bookshelf crammed with comic books to an array of little acrylic paintings taken from God knows where provided a momentary distraction from the big, strong fox behind him. "If we really are each other's boyfriends, and we really are in a real, committed relationship, then I guess now is when we're going to—" The rabbit gulped. " _Consummate it_."

"If you want too, carrots," Nick replied, still standing behind the rabbit, "and only if you want to."

"I've been thinking about when you cornered me in the station, and it's just, well," Jude said, "we just... we need a _do-over._ "

"Do over?"

"Yes, Nick," Jude went on, flopping his paws against the bed before sighing, "it's hard for me to put it all into words, but, well, when you and I first did something lewd together it went a certain way. Almost like some kind of public service cartoon made to warn little bunny children—" He made a dirty look as that line made Nick chuckle for a second. "You just _had_ to act as the big, strong predator grabbing and controlling your little prey, making it do everything that you wanted it to do."

"I understand. I was going by a certain kind of, well, instinct."

"This time, you and I are totally alone, and we know that we'll stay alone. I asked to come here, and you invited me in." Jude rubbed his face against the bed, taking in a deep breath. "It's still a matter of instinct, but it's— like— _even_ instinct? _Mutual_ instinct? _Shared _instinct?"__

Nick's gaze seemed to shoot out pure affection right onto Jude's face. Without needing to say another word, Jude sensed that the fox seemed to really get it. "I'd enjoy it too much to put into words if all that we did was hug each other in bed, side by side, for the rest of the day. Carrots," Nick said, "if it _is_ time for a 'do-over'— something all up to you, something where I won't push at all— it won't be a matter of me just taking charge."

"Deciding to, uh, leave things to... instinct... has a different meaning when it's not just playing around, but it's... _it's..._ 'the square peg into the round hole', you know?" Jude blushed profusely, slipping both of his paws against his cheeks.

"I promise you, carrots, that knots aren't square."

"Oh, you know, 'round peg into round hole', it's just... it's kind of scary as much as I keep thinking about it, honestly, and... I... _I..._ " stammered Jude, the rabbit's face having turned almost red as a tomato.

"Even just these little moments together, well, they mean too much to really describe," continued Nick, his tail slipping over and touching Jude's legs as he turned to shut the door. Jude moved up beside the massive bed, leaning against a side table. Nick stepped over and sat on the bed next to Jude, the rabbit looking away from him and just facing the wall. "It really is true when it's with you, carrots." The fox reached out and slipped a paw upon the rabbit's shoulder.

"Oh, you— you _can_ be charming, then," Jude muttered, wiggling his anxious paws down his chest before accidentally bonking the edge of the table, "you get that off of a discount greeting card, huh?"

"It's okay to be corny, carrots, if it still really true," Nick went on, rubbing his paw up Jude's shoulder onto the back of the rabbit's neck. The fur already felt so tense yet also so deeply warm. The rabbit sucked in a deep breath as Nick slid off of the bed, leaning down. Placing a sweet kiss against the rabbit's neck, the fox's tail swishing forward again and brushing up his flesh, Jude couldn't help but swoon.

The strong predatory musk overloaded the rabbit's senses, his nose twitching. A second kiss upon Jude's shoulder made him suddenly jerked off the side, the rabbit bumping back on the table enough to knock off a clock onto the floor. The fox merely glanced over for a second, his facial expression still as inviting and pleasant as ever, before he let out a chuckle. Nick then moved himself even closer. Every part of him was mere inches from Jude's nervously shivering flesh.

"I suppose I just... _just_... I trust what I really want, deep down?" Jude's words hovered in a grey zone between a curious question and a plea for help. The fox, also drinking in the glorious smells of his rabbit companion, nodded before moving over both paws along Jude's belly. Without another word, Nick slipped off Jude's belt and let the rest fall down, leaving the bunny in just his shirt and tight briefs.

"Carrots, you wonderful thing," Nick whispered, slipping his head against Jude's neckline and using just a teasing bit of teeth against the bunny's fur, "how about jumping over onto the bed for me?" He pointed over at the neatly arranged pillows and blankets beside them.

While anxiety still coursed through his veins, Nick's every single word as well as every single touch had shot tingles of pleasure through Jude's body. He was unable to say 'no', even if he had actually wanted to, and he absolutely did not want to. Jude hopped up onto the bed, sliding backward and burrowing into the covers a little bit. As much as raw nervousness dripped all over his face, the rabbit still curled his body over and let a pillow fall onto the top of his ears. He knew how adorable as well as handsome he looked to Nick.

Both of them had on such wide smiles, the fox's in particular seeming so much different than usual. The predator positioned himself nearly on top of Jude, making a little show off of slowly stripping off his shirt for the rabbit. Jude giggled, slipping his paws against the covers beside him. Nick then leaned his head down and rubbed it against the rabbit's belly, pushing Jude's own shirt upward. His nose wonderfully tickled against Jude's fur.

Not a single tinge of smugness remained in Nick's huge grin— it showing not the slightest bit of teeth at that moment as well. His expression just radiated this caring and tenderness that Jude basked in. Those great predatory paws migrated all around Jude's body, massaging across the rabbit's thighs and then up his chest while lifting off Jude's shirt. The rabbit gazed intensely into Nick's green eyes and natural smile. Jude needed to protect, even cherish, the handsome fox— just as much as he understood that Nick also felt determined to protect _him_.

"Please," murmured Jude as Nick rubbed his face on the rabbit's left cheek, their breaths getting so hot, "just kiss me."

Nick lined up himself over the rabbit, the fox picking off the last bits of their clothes so that only their underwear remained, and he held his paws along Jude's sides. Their scents filled up the entire room, egging them on so much that it felt their noses were screaming them. The predator's head slowly made his way forward, eyes absorbing every wonderful nook and curve on the rabbit's adorable face, and he pressed his lips out.

"Nick," whispered Jude at the last second, his eyes closing almost by themselves, "kiss me more than a partner, more than a boyfriend... kiss me like I'm your _husband._ " 

The fox shoved the Jude's body forwards as he locked his lips upon rabbit's lips. Feeling set off, his predatory drive pumped up more than he could remember in ages, he squeezed his paws around the rabbit's shoulders. Jude let out a bunch of weak moans, pleasure pumping through his senses at the dominating embrace. The fox slid his head from side to side as Jude did the same. Lips wiggling tightly upon lips, Nick mercilessly shoved his tongue into Jude's mouth. The fox massaged it along the top of Jude's teeth, the predator and prey feeling like the lines between them had totally vanished.

After a small eternity, Jude finally wiggled out of the kiss, popping his body downward. Thick drops of saliva oozed out of both of their mouths, the fur around the rabbit's neck getting soaked. Nick pressed on with his sloppy kiss, moving his lips around the side of Jude's right cheek while making such naughty and wet sounds. Jude began to tear up, his own paws gripping along the fox's midriff, as he felt such a connection that he'd never even dreamed of having with someone else before.

"Nick, please, make love to me _right now,_ " moaned Jude, trying to squeeze the fox's fur as best he could.

"Carrots," Nick murmured, slipping his face around the top of Jude's head. He felt tickled by the soft bristles of the rabbit's ears. " _Jude._ "

Jude wiggled off the fox, surprising him for a moment, as he thrust both paws down and almost threw off his underwear. The rabbit pushed up his footpaws into the air, giving the predator a good look at both his smooth bunny rear as well as his stiff erection. "Right now, Nick." The tears dotted even more around Jude's eyes.

Nick didn't hesitate for even a split-second. He fox dived himself forward on the bed and pressed his face in between the rabbit's thighs, slurping loudly. His tongue ventured all across the rabbit's furry balls, the pleasures already making Jude's thoughts start to just melt. The rabbit's tail twitched against Nick's face as the fox licking down around Jude's snug hole. The rabbit sweat all over, the weirdness of the abrupt sensations making him squirm as much as he enjoyed every glorious second.

Yet Nick followed on by tilting his head up, smiling that wide, genuine smile of his, and he brushed his paws over and over again around Jude's bunny buns. Jude looked on with anticipation, breathing heavily while feeling up for almost anything the fox could do. A playful semi-spank followed, bringing in no pain but a good amount of lewd, kinky bliss, before the fox once again rubbed his lips and tongue around the rabbit's balls.

"You're going to... _going to_..." Jude murmured, his capacity for rational thought already about to collapse.

The fox spanked the rabbit's rear once again before sliding his face down, mouth open wide. As the fox's big lips suckled over Jude's entire erection, the rabbit cried out in sheer, strong pleasure. The fox didn't just take in the whole length into his mouth. The predator's wanting tongue wiggled all around the rabbit's shaft— the fox's paws clenching and squeezing around Jude's then rapidly twitching tail as well. Pre-cum squirted out down Nick's throat as Jude succumbed to the hot predatory musk all over him. The bunny thrust his own paws down, seizing Nick's ears and petting them from side to side. A loud groan followed a torrent of mindless happy babbling came out of the the rabbit's mouth.

Nick popped his mouth open to stroke Jude's length against the side of his lips, slurping from tip to base. The predator's talented tongue swirling all around the erection. Jude's senses just flew right past his limit, his whole body buckling on the bed. The rabbit banged his head against the pillows behind him and almost bit his lip as he felt himself erupting. Thick drops of cum oozed out into the fox's mouth. Wave after wave of delight flowed through the rabbit's mind.

Jude watched as the fox pulled his head upwards, taking a big gulp to prove that he drank every single drop of the rabbit's love juices. Yet Jude somehow managed to stop and think as he took in the scene. He wondered why he hadn't just hopped into Nick's arms with a heart full of love the moment he first saw him, but he sighed happily all the same, knowing that he finally found the guy of his dreams.

Opening up his mouth for a moment, Nick crawled forward on the bed. He rubbed his face once again on one of Jude's cute ears as he calmly slipped his briefs off. Jude finally, after such anticipation, got a good, long look at Nick's pulsing hard length. A tiny drop of pre-cum already slid out of the end, the fox's knot growing slightly, while Jude's eyes opened up wide as dinner plates. The fox pushed his body down and brought his erection sliding against Jude's own half-flaccid length.

"Nick, _you beast_ ," the bunny murmured, marveling at thrust out between the fox's legs. Jude closed his eyes and shut his mouth as Nick pressed his chest against Jude's face. Their erections poked and prodded against each other, Nick shifting his body up and down as Jude felt himself getting totally hard yet again. The rabbit swung all four of his paws up over the fox, the slipping and sliding of shaft against shaft trembling Jude from ears to paw-tips. Jude rubbed his buckteeth against Nick's chest and drooled out, a torrent of weak noises leaking out of his mouth.

The fox, however, suddenly stopped. With a face full of predator fur, Jude could only wait and try to listen, hearing Nick muttering under his breath as he knocked a few things around above the bed. After letting out a happy cry, Nick pulled himself halfway off of the rabbit. His legs still lined up beside Jude's while the rabbit's paws remained across Nick's midriff. Still, the rabbit thankfully had a moment to stop, breathing in and out while pacing himself. Jude looked up as the fox wiggled in the air a long black bottle with a bright pink label.

"Does that seriously say ' _Boy Butter_ '?" asked Jude, bunching up his head against some pillows as he tried to wiggle backward.

"Hey," Nick replied, popping open the end of the bottle and dripping out some yellowish fluid onto his right paw, "I'll slide across whatever I need on my carrot's _hot buns_ —" He rested the bottle at the end of the bed and pet around Jude's ears with his left paw. "To make our full first time the best."

"Nick," Jude began, though he had little idea what exactly to ask or how to ask it. He held his footpaws up once again, the nervousness returning with a vengeance. He tried his best not to shiver as Nick's right paw slipped into his tailhole, the coldness making him squirm and shiver even more than before.

"Relax, carrots," Nick murmured, holding up one of Jude's legs and closing his eyes. He rubbed his tongue in little circles along Jude's fur, finally slipping his head over to suckle the tip of Jude's left footpaw. Still feeling the fox slipping that thick, creamy lubricant into his snug hole, the rabbit almost barked out a set of naughty, groaning noises. He covered his own face with both front paws, his senses flooded with the emotions of affection, eagerness, reluctance, worry, and shame all bubbling up at once.

"Nick!" Jude cried out, peeking out of his paws to see the fox positioning his body perfectly. The predator's throbbing hard length already prodded against Jude's tail, mere inches away from the rabbit's tight hole. "I just— I _really_ just— I need to say something!"

The predator leaned down, cradling the bunny with one paw while petting around his cheek with another. " _Carrots._ " Eyes half-closed and voice lowered to almost below a whisper, the fox's caring and tenderness seemed to bathe the rabbit's entire body. "I love you." Nick gently slid over the tip of his length, rubbing upon Jude's entrance, as he clutched the bunny even closer. "I want us... to really feel our love together."

"Like," Jude declared, swallowing hard before he brought his own paws up around Nick's sides, "treat me different than any girl or guy you've ever had before." He then shut his eyes tight before kissing Nick's chest, saliva dripping out as he pressed his lips against Nick's flesh as hard as he could. "Like I'm your _husband_ , Nicolas P. Wilde."

The fox thrust his length inside, gripping Jude as closely as he could manage, as he buried himself inside of the rabbit's hot flesh. Nothing that they had done before could even compare. Both Nick and Jude screamed out in raw delight. The rabbit frantically tapped a footpaw in the air, his mouth pouring out drool onto the fox's chest. Nick slid himself just a few inches out before pumping himself in again.

Jude's tightness seemed like a vice. Thrust after thrust into the rabbit's body felt like crashing, crumbling sensations hitting their minds at full force. Their bodies nearly overwhelmed, both predator and prey burst out with feral noises. Jude drank in the fox's strong musk as Nick growled with all of his strength. After one powerful surge into the rabbit's wounded insides, Jude scraping and scratching upon the fox to keep himself tightly held, Nick couldn't help but expose his teeth and push them down upon Jude's neck.

A few sparks of rational thought suddenly popped up in the rabbit's mind once again. As Nick's sharp fangs and hard erection buried into Jude's flesh, the rabbit tried to slash against the fox's body as well. Mouth open wide, Jude groaned out as best as he could, "Nick, bite all you want if you need to, just— please— just make me _yours_."

"Oh, yes, Jude..." Nick's predatory length felt ready to fire at any moment, lodged deep inside the rabbit. He could barely think let alone talk, his teeth sliding over to another side of Jude's neck, yet he groaned out with sheer emotion all the same.

"That's it. _That's it,_ " Jude murmured, kicking against Nick's back as he felt the predator's erection buried as far as it could go. Size differences no longer meant a thing. "Cum inside me." He knew that the fox just ate up his delight-filled sounds, every word as well just having so much power. "Pour every last drop into the guy you'll spend your life with— fill up your husband, Nick."

"Oh, damn it," growled Nick. Jude didn't just push the fox's buttons. The rabbit slammed his paws all over them.

"I— I wish I could give birth to all of your kits, Nick," Jude finally moaned, able to look up and see the fox almost foaming at the mouth and losing it, "I don't care— I just— I just need you make me yours _forever_." He rubbed his twitching nose against the fox's chest fur, breathing out deeply in such happiness.

The fox simply couldn't bear another second. He burst out with a powerful howl, sounding something like a savage wolf in for the kill, as he just unloaded himself inside of the rabbit. Nick pulled Jude up against every inch of him, every limb held close as he possibly could manage. His eyes filled with tears and his mouth drooled out, the pleasure becoming almost too much. Their minds seemed to float off into blissful space as drop after drop flowed out of the fox, pooling so deep inside of the rabbit. Nick remained at least conscious enough to sense his knot that had bulged up halfway inside of the rabbit's snug tailhole. He managed to shift himself back so that with a little popping sound he gave the rabbit a little bit of mercy.

Though, for his part, Jude sucked in and out huge breaths as he lay flat down on the bed. Cramming his head between two huge pillows, the rabbit moaned over and over again like a machine. Despite still being lodged inside, half-hard, Jude's snug entrance, glob after glob of thick juices oozed out of the rabbit's body and slipped down a little trail on the bed besides his leg. The rabbit's paws slammed against the covers.

After a while had passed, the deep sensations draining out of their bodies and letting their rational minds start to take over, Nick flopped over on the bed right beside Jude. He glanced down at the sticky spots all over the pillows, covers, and elsewhere, and he chuckled. The fox then reached over and picked up the pillow on top of the Jude's face. Though he had shut his eyes tight, the rabbit grinned from ear to ear.

"I've got big, obvious bite marks on both sides of my neck, don't I?" Jude asked, remaining still and relaxed.

"Uh-uh," Nick replied, idly massaging a paw against the rabbit's belly.

"And you want me to walk in to work tomorrow morning proud, not even trying some make-up or an air conditioning collar, but just giving a silent high-five to whoever asks? You you want your _husband_ to wear your bite marks like damn _trophies_?"

"Uh-uh."

"I'll think about it."

"You know," Nick began, using his paws to make little circles around the rabbit's chest, "it actually would be pretty wonderful if you could have our kits. It's just not exactly... likely."

That got Jude to open his eyes and sit up straight in the bed, smirking. "Oh, really?"

"But, carrots, it'll be fun trying."

Jude tossed a pillow at Nick's head. The fox ducked but failed miserably, causing it to bounce off of his head and whack into the ceiling fan above them. The machine made a little grinding noise before suddenly starting up. They both glanced upward and chuckled, standing up together on the bed.

"Smug fox," Jude said, a second later jumping up to kiss Nick's cheek.

"Dumb bunny," Nick said, a second later leaning down to kiss Jude's cheek.

**[The End]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading!
> 
> I'd like to especially thank my fellow writers who've helped me expand this out from a one-shot piece into a larger story, and I'm really glad to have this idea fully realized, totally completed!


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's a little bonus piece since I've gotten some fantastic pictures done by artist FanartIGuess!**

_Jude and Nick argue outside of the nightclub as the rain drips down all around them, the pair feeling such emotional turmoil:_

_Jude and Nick gaze in each other's eyes, the pair feeling such pure bliss after they've reconciled:_

**Open up the images in a new tab to see them in their full 2571x2571 glory! Check out the artist's website[here!](http://fanartiguess.tumblr.com/)**


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